Right before the last curve, Andrew advanced and left Wizz behind and when he raced past the finish line… I turned to stone. I couldn’t believe what just happened.
Cheers from all over the circuit brushed my ears and my eyes swelled with tears. Fuck, I was turning sentimental, but we won.
We won. We fucking won.
Andrew got first to the finish line and my wife—my fucking amazing and smart wife—guaranteed us the win. All the work, the struggles, and the stress paid off at this very moment.
Haelyn and I did it.
“Oh my god.” I heard Esmeray scream. “You won!”
“Congratulations, brother.” Kai clapped me on the back.
“I’ll go take some photos to show everyone how cool my brother is. You smashed it.” Kiaran came to me and ruffled my hair.
But I couldn’t react, I couldn’t do anything else besides catching my wife’s cheeks into my palms. I could barely see her through the tears.
“Do you realize what you did?” I whispered as tears swam down on her cheeks. She nodded her head, biting the inside of her cheek. Haelyn put her arms around my neck. “You are fucking brilliant. Have I told you that?”
“Yes,” she cried. “But I like hearing you say it.”
I smashed my lips into hers, tasting the saltiness of her tears before looking back at her stunning face. “You’re brilliant, Haelyn Ross, and there was no way I would’ve been able to do this without you.”
She smiled weakly. “That’s why we are a team, right?”
“We’re a team,” I repeated and right when I dragged her to my chest, Cairo rushed into the room, followed by Diane.
Diane offered me a soft smile and I returned, glancing down at our daughter who had an F1 jersey on her. I didn’t know how she managed to run when the material flooded on the floor, definitely too big for her size.
“Win, win, win,” she sang-songed, her hands curling on our legs.
I scooped her up in my arms and my wife and I kissed her adorable little cheeks. She grinned from ear to ear and I decided on the spot that this image right here—the one with my wife and daughter in my arms—was everything I needed to live from now on.